"My god..."
Under a blossoming, yet serene cherry blossom tree, Lin Wei leaned wearily against the petal-strewn roots, complaining with lingering fear, "You have no idea how mentally scarring it is to be in that cursed place with Mobius..."
After just a few days of this nightmare-level "internship," Lin Wei not only gained a deeper understanding of why Mobius was called a demon but also developed a newfound respect for those who managed to coexist with her daily, not only avoiding insanity but even maintaining a love for life.
Yes, I'm talking about you two—Fuxi and Nuwa!
"Sigh, that's true. Surviving the catastrophe that wiped out an entire civilization and then, in a strange new era, still serving as pioneers alongside the few surviving MANTISes as ordinary humans... it just proves that while they seem carefree and unreliable on the surface, their hearts must have long become as steadfast as rock..."
A petal, carried by the breeze, landed gently on his face. Lin Wei wriggled, turning over, mumbling indistinctly, "Still gotta practice!"
A gentle breeze carried the sweet fragrance, fallen blossoms silent; Yae Sakura knelt quietly beside him, sharing this moment of tranquility with Lin Wei.
It was the first time she had seen him like this, legs weak, constantly complaining. She found it momentarily amusing, but also felt a pang of heartache seeing him so mentally and physically exhausted. She leaned slightly closer, gently plucked the cherry blossom petal from his cheek, and held it softly in her hand.
Just hearing his brief description of a tiny fraction of this hellish experience made her skin crawl. It was truly hard to imagine the torment Lin Wei himself had endured...
According to Lin Wei, after witnessing Mobius perform that utterly insane "dissection surgery" for the first time, the second time he entered the lab, Mobius subjected Yuno's replica to the exact same procedure.
And this time, she didn't let Lin Wei stand idle either. She placed the Lin Wei replica she had just "reassembled" right in front of him, casually tossed him a scalpel and a hemostat, and demanded he replicate the procedure she had just performed.
"Huh?"
Hearing Mobius casually utter such an outrageous request, the scalpel slipped from Lin Wei's hand, its sharp blade nearly piercing his own foot.
"What, because the subject of dissection is another you, you can't bring yourself to do it?"
Mobius glanced at Lin Wei's complex, indescribable expression, her voice dripping with contempt.
"Or perhaps, should I demonstrate for you first?"
With that, Mobius smirked, leaned down, picked up the scalpel from beside Lin Wei's foot, casually tossed it into the sterilization basin for a quick clean, then held it gleamingly before Lin Wei's face. With a cruelly elegant smile filled with malice, she said gracefully,
"Watch closely~"
Then, Lin Wei watched, wide-eyed, as Mobius, holding the scalpel in one hand, deftly, flexibly, and without any hesitation, dismantled her other arm into pieces. She even patiently separated the incredibly fine muscle fibers of the arm, numbered them individually, and laid them out neatly in front of Lin Wei.
"See, these are the muscle fibers of a MANTIS. Although they don't look much different from original human muscle fibers, in reality..."
Mobius, now with only one arm, patiently explained things to Lin Wei in her usual malicious tone, but not a single word registered in his ears. His eyes were fixed on the cleanly stripped bone of her arm, and the dense network of deep red blood vessels and pale yellow nerves still wrapped around it.
Then he watched, mesmerized, as she used small tweezers to "reassemble" the dismantled muscle fibers, bit by bit. Soon, a complete arm was seamlessly attached back onto Mobius's body.
And then, when Mobius, with deliberate malice, gently extended that arm towards Lin Wei, inviting him to touch it, pull it, examine it, Lin Wei finally couldn't take it anymore and retreated for the second time.
"Blergh... Waaah!"
...
"Sakura, you guys should have beaten her much harder back then!"
Lin Wei wriggled again, shifting closer to Yae Sakura, his face filled with grief and indignation.
"Otherwise, being bullied by her like this every day... it just feels so unfair!"
...
Lin Wei's childish display made Yae Sakura chuckle despite herself. She reached out, carefully smoothing the hair on his forehead that the wind had slightly mussed. Her voice, as cool and clear as a mountain stream, offered gentle comfort.
"If you really can't stand it, why not take a short break?"
Though she said this, she also knew that Lin Wei rarely changed his mind so easily once he decided on something.
"...Tsk, it's fine. Just venting."
Lin Wei took a deep breath, his expression returning to its usual calm. He opened his eyes and looked deeply at Yae Sakura, quietly accompanying him. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but he said nothing. Then, stretching lazily, he sat up, ruffled his hair idly, muttered something about "time's about up, gotta go suffer under Mobius again," gave Sakura a casual wave, and turned to leave.
"..."
Yae Sakura watched Lin Wei depart, sighed softly with a hint of helplessness, and also rose to leave.
Really, who couldn't guess what was on each other's minds?
...
Mobius's Laboratory.
"Oh, back so soon?"
Mobius looked somewhat surprised at Lin Wei striding quickly towards her, though her words were still laced with barbs.
"I thought you'd be pouring your heart out to your other half for much longer, perhaps even reluctant to leave that tender embrace~"
"I told you, don't call her 'other half.' Sakura doesn't like it, and neither do I."
Lin Wei was thoroughly exhausted, mentally and physically, from the past few days' torment, lacking even the slightest energy to bicker with Mobius. He simply waved a hand in brief protest, then spoke in a rather cold tone.
"Time is limited. Let's continue—what's next?"
Though his voice sounded cold, Mobius detected a deeply hidden, familiar sense of resolve within it, which only made her want to provoke him further. She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the man before her. After a long moment, she suddenly let out a sneer, speaking nonchalantly.
"Tch, look at you, all grim and determined. So pitiful... Why force yourself? If you can't handle it, just give up. I can manage perfectly fine on my own anyway~"
"You don't need to test me like this, Mobius."
As mentioned before, Lin Wei had neither the strength nor the inclination to play verbal sparring games with Mobius. He replied in the same cold tone.
"I admit, I strongly dislike what I'm doing right now. I reject it intensely on both physiological and psychological levels, even finding it disgusting. My subconscious instincts scream at me every second to 'get away from here'..."
"Oh, is that so?"
Mobius crossed her arms, speaking dismissively. She wasn't surprised at all; almost everyone who came to her lab and witnessed her experiments reacted similarly, more or less—except Elysia. That one actually pestered Mobius to let her observe after repeated refusals, and showed not a single trace of shock or disgust from beginning to end!
It was from that moment Mobius started thinking that restless creature was definitely not normal!
But Mobius's personality was notoriously "difficult." While Lin Wei's reaction and answer didn't surprise her, it didn't necessarily satisfy her either.
She began scrutinizing him again, wondering if he would become another Elysia—willing to watch her, maintain a good relationship, even become a good friend, but ultimately, like Elysia, unable to truly understand her?
The closer someone got, the more Mobius felt insecure. Having been lonely her whole life, she was long accustomed to sealing herself within a shell. Whenever someone came close to cracking that shell, Mobius felt not only anticipation but also an almost instinctive repulsion.
Therefore, at times like these, the aggression in her words and actions intensified. She spoke coldly,
"If you don't like it, then quit. I just said, I can do it alone."
"Yes, I'd like to; but I can't."
Lin Wei stated calmly.
"While I dislike picking up a scalpel and doing things that challenge basic biological instincts, it doesn't mean I dislike you for constantly doing these things, nor does it mean I dislike myself for doing these things with you!"
"Tch, boring. Save those high-sounding words for the little girls around you!"
Mobius scoffed mercilessly.
"I have neither the extra time nor the mood to play these pointless games of mutual flattery and self-indulgent sentimentality with you!"
"Self-indulgent? Perhaps. But for me, the real reason is simple: some things just have to be done by someone—Mobius, you too are a living, breathing human being with flesh and blood, filled with brilliant ideals. I don't believe you were indifferent to all this the first time you stood at the operating table."
Lin Wei stated noncommittally.
"While I lack your dedication and wisdom to sacrifice everything for an ideal, just like my reasons for insisting on returning to the Elysian Realm, insisting on coming before you, insisting on achieving this cooperation, I too have things I absolutely must accomplish."
"..."
Mobius wanted to retort sarcastically, but she opened her mouth and ultimately couldn't say anything.
Lin Wei walked between the two experiment tables, pulled over a white sheet, and gently covered the replica of the young girl's naked body. Like tucking in a sleeping child, he carefully arranged the "corners of the blanket" and whispered softly,
"Let's not talk about Yuno's matter; I promised to lead her out of the mire, back into the sunlight to greet a different tomorrow, and I absolutely must do it. Besides that, there's another reason..."
As he spoke, Lin Wei turned his head towards his own replica lying horizontally on the other experiment table. His voice turned slightly colder.
"Because there were three of us who came to the Elysian Realm together, yet only two can truly 'lie' here. One person is missing."
"You mean your other half? She's here too, of course~ Oh!"
Mobius gestured towards Lin Wei's replica with her chin.
"Isn't she right there—as your Stigma~"
Lin Wei had grown accustomed to looking down at "himself" from this perspective over the past few days. On the back of the replica's naked body was etched a peculiar pattern, life's colors flowing slowly along its lines, as if it were an independent life form itself.
"Sakura is my friend, yet I am, in fact, the enemy who seeks her death—that is the reason I must persevere."
Lin Wei sighed softly, his tone calm yet firm.
"I'm just an ordinary citizen with limited knowledge, lacking your grand ideals. I can't imagine what life evolved to a higher level would look like. I never thought of becoming a savior, and 'rewriting humanity's destiny' has nothing to do with me..."
After venting emotionally for a while, what Lin Wei really wanted to say boiled down to one sentence.
"I only know that Sakura has always protected me, and I want to protect her—it's as simple as that!"
After saying this, Lin Wei let out a long breath as if releasing pressure, smiling wryly.
"Of course, in the Elysian Realm, I could just dump everything onto you, Mobius. Like you said, you can handle it alone. But eventually, I have to return to reality—when that day comes, who can I rely on? So it's better not to deceive myself and take the easy way out..."
Lin Wei always felt an indescribable loneliness in this world, making him cling desperately to every tiny thing in his grasp, like an insatiably greedy person unwilling to let go of even the smallest fragment.
"..."
"Tch, so you really are just a spineless fellow."
Mobius carefully sensed the simple, vibrant, yet resolute will and poignant emotion in Lin Wei's words. After a moment of silence, she sneered.
"What a pity you weren't born in our era. Otherwise, I would have had ample time to slowly correct these ridiculously naive ideas of yours!"
This guy is much more interesting than Elysia, just a bit shallow, Mobius thought with some "contempt," too lazy to waste any more words on him.
"Alright, break time's over. Let's continue."
...
In just a few short days, how much could Lin Wei, starting practically from scratch, really learn from Mobius?
Lin Wei knew this, and Mobius certainly knew it too. Therefore, besides being exceptionally strict with him, she selectively focused on teaching him things that could directly help solve the immediate problems.
Lin Wei, like a toddler learning to walk, couldn't truly grasp the meaning behind Mobius's every incomprehensible action or every complex technical term. He just forced himself through mechanical imitation and rote memorization without truly processing it.
Mobius watched from the side, her scalp tingling. Was Lin Wei the only one suffering these past few days? She herself was having a miserable time too, okay!
She had never encountered a student with such poor aptitude as Lin Wei!
If a complete novice like him had been recruited into her lab as a stranger during the Fire Moth era, without the prior extensive observation and special approval he received now, she probably would have furiously kicked him out the same afternoon. Then she would have stormed off to confront the personnel department, loudly informing those negligent fools—
"Open your damn eyes and see clearly! My Mobius Laboratory doesn't accept just any trash!"
But what could she do? Though reluctant to admit it, she actually quite liked this "trash." Plus, conditions in the Elysian Realm were limited, with hardly anyone suitable for her to pick and choose from. What else could she do? Endure it!
Lin Wei endured, she endured, everyone just endured each other. Mobius felt more mentally exhausted these past few days than in the previous fifty thousand years combined.
Finally, one day...
"Alright, finished."
Mobius let out a long breath as if liberated. Standing beside Lin Wei, who shared the same sentiment, they both looked up at the incubation pod. Fine vines uncontrollably extended from the girl submerged in the green nutrient fluid, while mechanical arms performed various delicate operations on her body.
"This little one is quite an interesting specimen."
Mobius remarked with keen interest.
"A Honkai Beast possessing both human characteristics and human consciousness like her... truly a rare sight!"
"Do you have to call her that? She was originally human."
Lin Wei felt helpless. He had tried correcting the term many times, but it never worked.
"Speaking of which, the current era's Herrscher of the Void once used her Herrscher powers to create a false, pseudo-Herrscher core, transforming her symbiotic Judgment-class Honkai Beast into an adorable girl with human-like thoughts—at least, she looked adorable. Wouldn't she fit your definition better?"
"My, my, it seems the Herrschers of this era are indeed more interesting than those of our time~"
Mobius showed considerable interest in what Lin Wei said but remained noncommittal.
"But ultimately, 'implanting a Herrscher core into a Judgment-class Honkai Beast to forcibly alter its life form and thought processes' is just an application of Herrscher powers, nothing particularly special."
Then, she added with a touch of arrogance,
"After all, compared to capturing a living Judgment-class Honkai Beast and turning it into a friend of humanity, isn't it far more promising to directly use it as raw material to create more numerous, stronger, and more controllable MANTISes?"
"...You do have a point."
Lin Wei smiled helplessly. Even if a Judgment-class Honkai Beast gained human thoughts and emotions, it would still side with the Herrscher who birthed it. There was no other possibility.
"But this little one is different—in her, I see humanity's inherent instinct to leap towards a higher level of life!"
Mobius gazed somewhat obsessively at the Yuno replica in the incubation pod.
"A failed Judgment-class Honkai Beast embryo, a human girl on the verge of perishing under Honkai erosion... two equally unwilling souls colliding by chance, intertwining to bloom into this current flower—don't you think her form is exquisite?"
"..."
Even though the Yuno replica's body wasn't fully naked due to the concealing vines and mechanical arms, Lin Wei still preferred not to stare, feeling it was impolite. He merely agreed with emotion.
"Yes, a beautiful coincidence. The elusive concept of 'life's perseverance' is vividly demonstrated in her. That's why I don't want her to meet a bad end; it would be too regrettable."
"So you decided to interrupt her natural evolutionary process?"
Mobius clicked her tongue in wonder.
"Though it sounds somewhat regrettable, I must say you did a good thing. Otherwise, if she were allowed to evolve naturally in that Honkai energy-rich 'birthplace,' the most likely outcome would be that her original human parts would be completely devoured by the Honkai Beast parts. That would essentially mean the Judgment-class Honkai Beast, which failed to develop properly due to an accident, would be reborn using her body. As for this human girl named 'Yuno'..."
Mobius pondered for a moment.
"Her consciousness would most likely be rewritten unknowingly, completely reduced to a puppet of the Honkai."
She had experienced something similar before—the Previous Era's Herrscher of Legion. Unlike other Herrschers, these individually weaker Herrschers each possessed memories and thought patterns from before becoming Herrschers, only the fundamental basis of their consciousness was completely rewritten.
Otherwise, how could Mobius, a MANTIS, have been killed in a sneak attack by Klein? Wasn't it because she failed to notice Klein's abnormality in time?
"Perhaps that's precisely why Mobius felt she could save Klein? After all, Klein wasn't technically 'dead,' just 'changed'..."
Lin Wei knew pursuing this topic further would only touch upon Mobius's painful memories, so he wisely stopped and changed the subject.
"So, what now?"
Mobius gave Lin Wei a faint, knowing smile.
"Now? The most likely outcome for her is, of course... death by genetic breakdown!"
"Uh..."
This answer surprised Lin Wei. He had expected something like "corruption" or "loss of control."
"What, surprised? Her human parts were already destroyed long ago. The only reason she can appear 'alive' and seemingly normal now is because another entity filled that void."
Mobius glanced mockingly at Lin Wei, seemingly ridiculing his naivety and ignorance.
"Her human component is too weak, completely unable to resist the powerful genes of a Honkai Beast. This one-way consumption process is almost irreversible—and unfortunately, because of your forceful interruption, the Honkai Beast embryo part also lost most of its activity, leaving only residual instincts slowly maintaining this process. So..."
Mobius summarized Yuno's true state with extremely cruel words.
"This little one is actually just a walking corpse barely pieced together from two dead remnants. When this fragile balance finally tips, it will naturally collapse completely~"
"..."
Lin Wei remained silent for a moment, roughly understanding Mobius's meaning.
Yuno could live normally now not because her body was healthy, but quite the opposite: because she had so many bugs, they formed a bizarre equilibrium, allowing her to continue living like a normal person...
"Alright, I understand what you mean."
Lin Wei asked seriously.
"Mobius, since you're deliberately telling me this, it means you've actually found a solution, right?"
He knew Mobius never spoke without reason. After such prolonged, in-depth research, she must have found the answers she needed.
"So impatient already? Hehe... It seems you really care about this little one~"
Mobius gave Lin Wei a meaningful look, then stopped beating around the bush and stated her conclusion directly.
"The solution is also simple—as long as we can strengthen her increasingly weak human part, allowing the balance to be maintained, isn't the problem solved?"
"..."
Lin Wei waited for more, but quickly realized Mobius seemed finished speaking after that brief statement. He asked incredulously,
"It's that simple?"
"What else? Did you think achieving something like this is actually simple?"
Mobius glanced at Lin Wei indifferently with her serpentine eyes, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"After all, the birth of a MANTIS is just the simple matter of 'fusing meta-morph D.N.A. into the body,' isn't it?"
"..."
Mobius's example left Lin Wei speechless. He quickly waved his hands.
"No, I mean—what happens after that? After maintaining the balance, what should be done?"
"After that, is there anything else that needs to be done?"
Mobius turned her gaze back to the Yuno replica in the pod, murmuring to herself in a tone of intoxication and longing.
"Matters of life's evolution should naturally be left to life itself to complete~ How can one force such a beautiful process?"
Here, Mobius paused slightly, as if realizing she had lost composure for a moment. She quickly regained her calm and changed the subject.
"In a sense, this little one, truly formed from the collision and fusion of two lives, is far more qualified to bear the title 'MANTIS' than we so-called 'MANTISes' are!"
"...Alright, I understand."
Lin Wei roughly grasped Mobius's meaning and took a deep breath.
"So, what exactly do we need to do?"
"Simple."
Mobius said while performing the final operations on the instrument panel flashing with dark green lights.
"Just follow the steps I taught you before: extract the human-part genes from this little one, recreate a complete embryo, then transform it into a form similar to 'meta-morph D.N.A.' and fuse it into her body—like this."
As her voice fell, Mobius's small hand trembled slightly. The light inside the incubation pod brightened. A mechanical arm holding a large syringe slowly descended from the top and gently pierced the neck of the Yuno replica.
The girl's body trembled slightly, a look of pain flashing across her face, but she quickly calmed down. The vines unconsciously spreading around her body slowly retracted, even disappearing entirely, making her look just like an ordinary human girl.
"Alright, finished. The subsequent observation work for further changes can be handed over to Klein. As for you..."
Mobius sneered.
"Better hurry up and practice the steps we just went over a few more times before you leave the Elysian Realm!"
Stuck with such a clumsy "student" whom she could only patiently educate, she had no choice.
"Alright, I understand. Thank you for your hard work, Mobius."
Lin Wei had no objections to this. He trusted Mobius's abilities completely.
"Next, there's the other matter..."
Lin Wei frowned, asking gravely,
"What should I do about Yae Sakura's Stigma?"
For Lin Wei, this matter was even more important than Yuno's...